Being a look back at cards from the Star Trek CCG, and what I thought of them back when they were fresh and new... in EPISODE order. Let's open a very useful side-deck...
PICTURE: Up front, I'll tell you this doorway's as ugly as they come. Sure, the Tent has an opening in the front (the doorway itself), but also one in the back and on the sides (though the rock in the back creates a faux-wall). There's just too much Q's Planet here: styrofoam rocks and fake soundstage skies. The banner on the right unbalances the picture further. The only thing keeping my attention is the Easter Egg. For those who don't know, it's the word "Déchiffrer" at the top of the tent. Now, what fascinates me isn't how the word Déchiffrer means Decipher in French, and that the Tent is in Napoleonic style, which is French. No, what fascinates me is how they ever thought of such a thing! Brainy, those designers. And since Easter Eggs are something that have to be deciphered themselves, so to speak, this is even more appropriate. That alone ups the score to a 2.5. (Still low, huh?)
LORE: N/A (score will be adjusted accordingly)
TREK SENSE: Is there any, really? The idea of the side-deck (and cards made accessible through that device) implies that Q is looking to help players! Oh yeah? The Tent in the episode served no real purpose at all, but thematically, I suppose it represents a French marshall's strategy post, where the military minds think up contingency plans (which the Tent, as a card, arranges). It's all very conceptual. There are high points, such as the fact that seed cards may be stocked in the side-deck, and these are closer to the kind of "help" Q might provide. Indeed, you might see it more as Q antagonizing your opponent like the Q-Continuum side-deck does. Of course, a lot of cards wouldn't be something Q would think of. On the downside, Q-cards can't be stocked here at all. It's hard to gauge a card like this which is rooted so much in mechanics at the cost of Trek Sense. Some hidden virtues, but overall, a 2.
STOCKABILITY: Well, the number of players who DON'T use Q's Tent might be easier to count. Those using the tri-Treaty can't use any side-decks, so there are those decks based on making the Federation an equal opportunity attacker. Okay, that's fair (even if there are other ways to let your big Fed ships attack). Other Tent poo-pooers include the Borg, who find Tents in their draw deck to be bad draws. Well, stick with me, friends, I think the Tent can help even the Collective. Now basically, you would use your Tent in one of two ways. Either you stock your side-deck with all your important cards, and your draw deck with an adequate amount of Q's Tents. This would allow you to get to the cards you need without fear of them being at the bottom of the draw deck. If they are all good cards, don't bother with the specific card and go for a random draw, which keeps the Tent on standby as the next card draw (not this turn, though, which can be a pain). Random draws will get you the most out of a singular Tent, since one can get you any number of Tented cards. The other way people commonly use the side-deck is by stocking a lot of contingency cards in there. There are so many possible strategies and affiliations that, sometimes, you can't be sure a specific counter card will be worth stocking. If you stock an anti-Rogue Borg card, for example, and your opponent doesn't use any, you're stuck with that useless card in hand. Stocking it in the Tent is the perfect solution. That way, if your opponent doesn't use RBMs, the counter stays in. If he does, however, you can get at it. 13 different cards (each being different can also be a pain) can mean 13 different strategies countered. The "just-in-case" side-deck is probably the best idea. Okay, Borgs and Borgettes, here's where it gets interesting. Don't use any Q's Tents in your draw deck (bad probes): use the side-deck as a repository for things your other cards can download and which would be bad probes themselves. Since you can download from the Tent as much as from the draw deck, there's no reason to pollute that deck with Assimilation Tables, Adapts and the like if you can Tent them instead. Similarly, more classic affiliations can avoid some of the perils of having their decks rifled through by Thought Makers, etc. Only Tarmin can really look here, and he's not widely used. The last Tent strategy is using it as seed storage. There's always been Q's Planet which can not only be stored here too, but which requires dilemmas and/or artifacts. These are useless in your draw deck, but are quite comfy in the Tent, where they keep until deployed. And then there's Beware of Q which allows you to fish in your Q's Tent for a Q-Flash to seed at a mission that urgently needs an obstacle to stop your opponent. There's also Scanner Interference which can have a similar effect. Caveat: watch out for Computer Crash and Wrong Door which can throw a wrench into the works. I recommend Quark's Isolinear Rods which does away with both. Of course, there's still Revolving Door to worry about on downloads. While I'd easily get rid of the "draw no cards this turn" limit which doesn't just nullify the end-of-turn card draw, but any others you might have coming, that doesn't even figure in the download-storehouse option. Is 5 too high? I don't think it is. Eminently seedable/stockable.
TOTAL: 12.67 (63.33%) Just goes to show, you can't do well in the Rolodex on power alone.
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